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5 Tips on How to Bring a Stagnant Blog Back from the Grave

Got a “stagnant” blog? Do you have a blog that hasn’t gotten much love recently? Did you accidentally (or strategically) forget about that blog?

Or do you have a blog that seriously needs something a bit more than just CPR?

How do you revive it and bring it back to life? That’s what @joshuamtaylor asked me the other day:

@TentBlogger – have you written anything on “reactivating a stagnant blog” or anything like that?

I quickly answered him that I’d take a look at it and answer it soon since I know that more and more bloggers have asked me for advice on how to resuscitate or revive a blog that’s been just hanging out for a bit without any new and updated content.

Here are 5 tips that can get your blog (and you) back on its feet:

1. Find Your Core Motivation

Oftentimes the best place to start is to seriously spend some time doing a little soul searching – what exactly are your intentions? What exactly are your goals? Why did you start a blog in the first place? What was it that moved you toward execution?

Asking these important and critical questions can help you renew that passion that you once had and motivate you to pursue your goals. Heck, it might be even more than just goals – it might be your dreams!

One would think that if it was the latter that your blog would never take a break but we know that’s not even close to the truth; life gets in the way and we get distracted and derailed from even our most important interests and goals.

Revive that blog so that you can pursue and achieve your goals – or create new ones!

The amount of change and how dramatic it needs to be is up to you but you might need a significant spark to get things going again.

4. Start with Community

Sometimes we need a bit more community help with our re-birth; sometimes we have to be humble and simply reach out and ask for some assistance! Perhaps there’s someone in your life that can give you that much-needed encouragement to start publishing again.

Or, perhaps you need to simply reach out to bloggers that you’ve never directly engaged with and ask them for advice or join their communities via comments, tweets, or even in Facebook. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat down at my computer, felt like I’ve got nothing, went around to some of my staple blogs, and then found the motivation to write.

Leverage the power of the social web with your revitalization and you might develop a healthy habit of engaging even more!

5. Revisit Old Blog Posts

Finally, one strategy that works and is somewhat of a half-step is to jump back through a few of your older posts that you just loved to write or that need some updating. Perhaps you’ll find the motivation and the incentive you need to write some fresh and compelling content!

You might also find that one of those posts needs a follow-up post or even needs to be turned into a blog series – the sky is the limit!

Finally, remember that at the end of the day you absolutely must do the following:

Relax – It’s just a blog. No one is “upset” or “angry” at you for not publishing for a while.

No Apology – It’s very typical for someone who’s coming back into the game to wax some large and long apology for not being around – guess what, who cares?!? Don’t worry about apologizing – spend time writing that great blog post1

Execute – At the end of the day you have to commit to writing and doing it.

I hope that most of you will not give up on your blogs – there’s so much fun and opportunity to be had! Don’t let your platform rot from underneath you!